BLACK SNAKE MOAN

A former Southern blues-man tries to tame a wild-at-heart woman in director Craig Brewer’s BLACK SNAKE MOAN. The HUSTLE AND FLOW director pits Samuel Jackson as Lazarus, an Old Testament Christian, against Christina Ricci’s promiscuous vixen Rae. Rae’s army boyfriend Ronnie, played by Justin Timberlake, has just left for the war in Iraq, and Rae begins to fall into her old, wild ways. After Rae is beaten and dumped on the side of the road, Lazarus discovers her and decides some strict rehabilitation is in order.

Mixing both sexuality and spirituality, BLACK SNAKE MOAN is a strange film, one which may have a hard time appeasing audiences seeking the spiritual or the sexual content. Oddly enough, on its own terms, the film succeeds. The film’s blend of the Bible and bare-breasted Ricci, is in many ways the same trick and treat that THE LEGEND OF BETTIE PAGE pulled. Both baited in viewers with an alluring beauty, only to sell a religious tale of forgiveness and redemption. Ricci’s performance is good, but is upstaged by a terrific turn by Jackson. Jackson’s familiar intensity is on display again, but he also brings a rare peacefulness to Lazarus. His performance should be remembered come awards season. Just as he did with HUSTLE AND FLOW, Brewer establishes the community as a character. The Deep South blues gives BLACK SNAKE MOAN its personality, and the church folk give the film its soul. In spite of BLACK SNAKE MOAN’S peculiar nature, it works.

Grade: B